Twilight Rip Off
by The BlakRoz
Summary: So, I wrote this for a creative writting assignment, by complete accident, and my teacher said it was fanfiction, too much like Twilight. But it still turned out to be a pretty good story. So I'm putting it online. Read and Review, please! -BlakRoz
1. The Cafeteria

"Rose," Mrs. Gregory said, "Would you please stay after a moment?" The lunch bell had just rang, so the rest of the class flooded out. Everyone except me. I stayed in my seat.

Mrs. Gregory came over and stood above me. "Rose, how long did you study for my test?"

I had to look down before I could answer. "I didn't."

She laid a packet of paper on my desk. The test. My test, actually. **100%** was written at the top and circled in big red marker.

"Your first test here, on your first day, and you got a perfect score. You even did the EC and essay questions. Perfectly."

"Is that a bad thing?" I asked, pretending to be confused. But I knew I'd get a perfect score on every test. We all would get perfect scores, just because of what happened to us so many years ago.

"No, not bad. Just…" she hesitated, looking for the right word. "It's just different. This was a pre-test, a pop-quiz, if you will, for the unit we would start tomorrow, and it looks as if you all ready know all the information. Not even my advance class does this well—they only score in the 90s."

"Oh," was all I could manage. Then, gathering some courage, I asked, "May I go to lunch now?"

She thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. "Yes, you may." She took the test off my desk and walked back to hers at the front of the room.

I gathered my books into my bag and walked out the door.

I walked quickly down the hall. During lunch, you weren't supposed to be in the hallways without a hall pass. I was locker number 1013. When I got there, I speed-dialed my com, 33-21-5, and hung my bag on the small hook. I took a purple elastic from around my wrist and put my long, dirty-blond hair into a high pony tail. I sighed. Even with my hair up, it still flowed, very wavy, down to about my waist. I grabbed my Sunkist™ off the top shelf, closed the door, and speed-walked down the hall, towards the cafeteria. I didn't know exactly where it was, so I just followed the smell of melting cheese, cooking chicken, and fried-food.

Once I entered the big double doors, voices immediately rang in my head. Most of them suggested that the Montoyas were crazy, sitting at the Masens' table. I looked around for them, and saw four familiar heads sitting at said table, next to the east wall and towards the back exit.

The crazy ones. The Montoyas. My family.

Ashlie and I were twins; Jamie and Drew were brother and sister. Taylor was Drew's girlfriend, and someone the four of us had known for a very long time.

I tried to ignore the voices ringing in my head as I wound through tables and chairs, making my way towards the table that supposedly belonged to the Masens.

They were sitting in the order we normally sat in: Ashlie on the end, then Jamie, Drew, and Taylor. There was an empty chair next to Taylor. My chair.

"Hey, guys," I said as I approached them.

"Hey," Jamie replied back. Her red hair was pulled back into a neat French braid.

"Hi," Ashlie, usually so unnecessarily complicated, surprisingly kept things simple.

"'S'up?" Drew responded just like he was responding to anyone who said 'Hi'.

Taylor was the only one to greet me with more than one syllable. "We saved you a seat." She pointed to the empty chair beside her.

"Yeah, I can see that," I sat down and put my Sunkist™ on the table in front of me. "So, who's heard the latest gossip?"

"I'm sorry, but the rest of us seem to lack the Power of mind reading." Ashlie said it like I should've known. And I did.

The five of us, Ashlie, Jamie, Drew, Taylor, and I, were…special. We've been alive for the past couple of centuries. Ok, more like three-and-a-half centuries. When we were born, some freaky mad scientist dude mixed our DNA with a bunch of other DNA. Different formulas for each of us, but in one way, we all ended up the same.

We were mutated freaks.

In the other ways, well, that comes down to our different formulas. We each got our own, unique Powers.

Even though Ashlie and I were twins, our Powers were nothing alike. I _can_ read minds. Most people would love to do that. Well, those people, who think it's great, are wrong. I admit, at certain times my Power came in handy, but mostly, it sucks. With a capitol **sucks**. I hear everyone. It's like being in a room filled with people all talking at once. And some thoughts are whispered, some are shouted. I tried not to listen, knowing I had no right to be in someone's mind, but I can't stop it.

And because of it, it was my responsibility to know the reactions of the people around us. I acted as lookout, for lack of better word, for my family. To protect us. If anyone ever grew suspicious of us, I would give us an early warning and an easy retreat. It happened occasionally—some human with an overactive imagination would see in us characters of a book or a movie. Usually, they got it wrong, but it was better to move on to somewhere new than to risk scrutiny. Very, very rarely, someone would guess right. We didn't give them a chance to test their hypothesis. We simply disappeared, to become no more than a frightening memory…

Ashlie, on the other hand, was telepathic. Her Powers were telepathy, the way of talking with the mind, and telekinesis, the way to move inanimate objects with your thoughts. So, in a way, Ashlie could read minds, but someone had to call out to her directly with their mind in order for her to do it, and she could send thoughts to other people. And the telekinesis, well, that was just plain fun. But still, Ashlie didn't get anything that would slowly drive her insane.

Jamie was so much more different than Ashlie and I. She was Psychic. She couldn't _see_ the future, but she could hear it, hear what people will say or other noises, and she could feel it, feel whether it will be good or bad. She was also very specific. She could pin-point where and when it would happen, and occasionally she was a few feet or minutes off, but always right. Indecision wasn't much of a problem; it just made things a little harder.

Drew was a…there isn't a word for Drew. He's just an explanation. Drew can see relationships, and can influence or break them. He couldn't do much, but he was glad he could at least do something.

Taylor was the most amazing of us all. She just had to think of something—anything—and snap her fingers. And out of nowhere, whatever she was thinking of would be right there, right in front of her. It worked the other way too.

She could also Sense what others' Powers were. If we were getting suspicions on someone, if we started thinking they were MFs like us, we'd ask Taylor to do a Sense on them, and she would tell us if they were or not. Most of the time they weren't, but there were a few occasions where we'd find one. When we do find another group of our kind, we usually clash: Power vs. Power, Sight vs. Sight, subtle things like that—that somehow always end in death for someone. And if you did have Power, you're Gifted. So Taylor could do more than all of us could.

Taylor's thoughts were the ones I tried not to listen to the most. Her thoughts were extremely sensitive; she could tell if I was in them on purpose, or just on accident. I tried staying out of the others' thoughts as well, but it wasn't as easy.

Try as I may, still…I knew.

Ashlie was always thinking about what outfit she would wear after school or for school tomorrow.

Jamie was usually looking ahead to see if we'd have to leave soon, or if we'd get some unwelcome visitors.

Drew was always thinking boyish thoughts, but there were a few times where I'd catch him worrying on something else.

And, even though I tried harder than I usually do to stay out, I always heard Taylor's.

Taylor was always thinking about something different. One day, she'd be thinking of rain, how it felt nice after a hot day; the next she'd be thinking about a hurricane in Florida!

So, since I was the only one who could read minds, I've been the only one to hear the latest gossip.

"Ok, get this," I chuckled just a little. "We just happen to be crazy." We all started laughing—we were already on the road to insanity. This wasn't very new.

"'Kay," Drew said as the laughter died, a grin on his face. "So why are we crazy this time?"

"We are crazy because, apparently, we are sitting at the table that belongs to the Masens. Who these Masens are, I don't know. But we're sitting in their seats."

"The Masens' table?" Drew asked, pretending to be confused. "I don't see their names on it. Or on the chairs, either."

Ashlie snickered. "Well then, I guess the Masens will have to sit somewhere else."

"I nominate you to say that to their faces," Jamie told her. It didn't sound like she was joking very much, but her thoughts said otherwise.

"She just did," a deep voice said.

We turned our heads towards the sound and stood up, but didn't leave the table.

There were four of them: two boys, two girls. In a boy-girl pattern. Ugh. How kindergarten-ish. But we knew who, and what, they were.

The Masens. Other mutated freaks. They had to be: their appearance and confidence around us gave that away.

Most humans shied away from us because we were so 'extraordinarily beautiful' and 'a different kind of strange'. They were smart. But the Masens stood tall against us.

I started on my right. He was big, had short, dark hair, and was wearing a gray hoodie. The voice probably came from him.

_Why are they here? At _our_ table?_ Nothing too threatening. I moved on.

She was about average, not too tall but not too short. She had long, curly blond hair, and she obviously cared more about how she looked. Her thoughts weren't about the table. They were about Ashlie.

_Why is _she_ prettier than_ me_? She's _human_!_ Wow. Now _that_ is a dumb blond. We were anything but human. You'd think a mutant would know that.

The next boy had very curly hair, very dirty blondish.

_Amazing. They aren't backing away from us, or worrying. They're completely calm. Could they be part of our kind? It's possible they're just overconfident…_ Well, he was right on one thing. We _were_ overconfident. And it usually got us into trouble. Either that or my sarcasm did.

The last one was short, kind of pixyish. Her shoulder-length black hair was curled out at the ends, making it look spiky.

_What are they doing here?_ she thought. _Should've one of the humans here warned them that this is _our_ table?_ Her thoughts were much different from Blondie's.

Drew interrupted my evaluating. "You must be the Masens."

"And you, the Montoyas," Pixie-girl said. "Look, we don't want any trouble, but this has been our table since the beginning of the school year, and the year before this," her musical voice was full of reasoning; I would've believed she didn't want any trouble, but her thoughts gave her away. "So can you please sit somewhere else?"

"We _could_," Ashlie said, emphasis on 'could', "But isn't the rule, 'First come, first serve?" She probably saw my tense posture from Pixie's question and was following.

"Exactly," said the big one; I was right, the deep voice came from him. "And since we were at the school first, we get the table."

"But what's the fun of playing by the rules?" Jamie asked sweetly. Ashlie must've sent out a warning to her, which meant Drew and Taylor, too. This was going to get interesting.

The entire cafeteria was quiet now, all eyes on the ten of us. They were too intrigued by our confrontation; all they could do was stare. But their thoughts were everywhere, and focused on us.

_Rose._ Ashlie called out my name mentally. My head didn't turn like it usually did; I knew Ashlie's 'voice' well enough. _Find out what Drew sees._ Translation: she told Drew to find out about their relationships, if there were any.

Obediently, I went to Drew's mind.

_The big one and the blond girl have a strong relationship, but the boy in the middle and the black-haired girl has an even stronger one. As for the bronze-haired boy, well, it seems he's grieving over a lost love._ Drew stopped for a second. _Ashlie told me she already told Taylor to Sense them. What does she say?_

I stopped a moment.

Bronze-haired boy? There was no boy with bronze-colored hair here. The Masens only had four.

I moved into Taylor's mind.

_The three on the left are the only Gifted ones, but the big one on the end is very strong, physically. The boy in the middle can calm everyone down, or excite them. He can feel what others are felling as well. The black-haired girl next to him is Psychic, like Jamie, but she can actually _see_ the future, along with hear and feel. The bronze-haired boy is exactly like you, Rose. A mind reader. He's already gone through our minds, but it seems he can't get into yours…are you doing that? Can you get into his?_

I wanted to scream. Why were they doing this to me? There was no bronze-haired boy! There were only four Masens: the big one, Blondie, the curly-haired boy, and Pixie. No bronze-haired boy anyw—

But my thoughts were stopped short. Right next to Pixie, standing exactly two feet in front of me, sure enough, there was a boy with bronze colored hair.

I stood shocked. Taylor said he couldn't read my mind. I wasn't doing anything, but he was just a regular mind reader, so he couldn't do anything either.

So what was going on?

No wonder I didn't see him at first. I was listening to thoughts, and since I never heard his, I didn't notice he was there. But it felt uncomfortable. Right where his thoughts should be, I heard…nothing.

And the nothing felt so good, yet uncomfortable at the same time.

I folded my arms across my chest. His arms had been folded there the entire time. We just stared at each other, eyes narrowed. The more I concentrated on listening to his silent thoughts, the less I heard from the rest of the room. I wondered if it was the same for him as well.

We kept on staring. His green eyes bore into mine, and my blue into his. For a split second, I looked at the other four. Their eyes were blue. Various shades of blue, but still, blue. I quickly returned to his gaze.

"Guys," he said, his eyes still on me, "Let's go. It's not worth it." His voice was lovely, like silk. Or velvet.

"What?" the big one demanded. "Erik—"

"Ethan." The bronze-haired boy, Erik, cut the big one, Ethan, off. "It's just a table." He broke our gaze to look at him, then at the girl next to him. "Aliss?"

Pixie-girl sighed. "Erik's right. It's just a table." She took the hand of the curly-haired boy and dragged him towards the exit. "Come on, Jayson. Let's go get a bag of chips or something before the bell rings." They disappeared out the door.

"Whatever," Ethan sighed, clearly not over it. "Let's go, Rose."

I froze. But Blondie answered him.

"I can't believe we spent the entire lunch period arguing over a table," she complained. But without another word, they turned and walked out.

Leaving us with Erik.

The cafeteria burst into conversation, wondering how on earth we were actually able to stand up to the Masens. And survive.

For the first time since the 'gossip', I spoke. "Her name is Rose?" I asked Erik.

"Rosalynn," he corrected, "We just call her Rose for short."

Taylor sighed. "Well that will get confusing." She and Drew sat down, then Jamie and Ashlie. Erik and I were the only ones left standing.

"How?" Erik was obviously already confused, but for a different reason.

"My name is Rosalinda," I explained. "So they call me Rose for short."

He unfolded his arms and put his hands in his pockets. "Wow. That will get confusing."

The bell rang. Students hurried across the room, throwing trash away and rushing out the exit, giving their best attempt to make it to class on time.

"Well," Erik said, "I guess I'll see you around." And with that, he turned and walked out the door. And for some strange reason, I kept staring at the exact spot he left.

"Alright," Jamie stood up. "Let's go." Ashlie, Drew, and Taylor stood and started for the door, leaving me standing and staring like an idiot. "Don't forget your 'Kist, Rose." I grabbed my forgotten, unopened soda and followed my family out the door.


	2. Biology Class

5th period was extremely quiet—on the outside. What was I thinking when I signed up for Enrichment Reading? It's pure _torture_ for a mind reader! Mrs. Lyons lets us listen to our iPods and mp3s, but that just makes it worse. Everyone reading inside their heads made it practically impossible for me to concentrate on my own book.

So 6th period was a relief—to an extent.

I walked through the door, my right arm carrying my binder, and my left hand rubbing my temples.

"Hello," a male voice said when I walked in. "You must be Rosalinda."

"Rose," I corrected him. The only people allowed to use my full name was my family, and that was only when I was in serious trouble.

"Well, Rose," he said, "I'm your biology teacher, Mr. Block." He handed me a book titled, _Life Science Biology: For High School Students_. "Here's your book, and the only spot we have available is next to Erik Masen in the back."

That froze me. Erik Masen? My one exception to the Power that nearly drove me suicidal last period?

I started looking frantically for him, for the empty seat next to him. It was slightly difficult; most people hadn't taken their seats yet. So I started looking for him with my mind, which caused more pain due to the headache, looking for the peace I found at lunch when I tried to read his mind.

"Erik." Mr. Block said. Then I found him with my mind—and eyes.

"Yes, Mr. Block?" Erik asked in his velvet voice.

Mr. Block directed me down the aisle to the seat. "Erik, this your new lab partner, Rose Montoya. You don't mind sharing, do you?"

"Of course not." Erik said. I sat down on the stool.

"Good." Mr. Block said, and then he spoke to me. "Today we'll be doing a lab on the six steps of mitosis. Are you alright with that, or do we need to postpone that?"

"I'm fine." I replied.

"Alright." Then he walked to the cart full of slides and started passing them out among the tables.

"Hi, again," Erik said to me.

I groaned, not out of rudeness, out of the pain of my headache.

Erik was quiet a moment, registering the greeting I gave to him. Then he said, "Did you just come from Enrichment Reading?"

"Yeah," I groaned. "How'd you know?"

"I originally enrolled there, thinking it was safe." He paused.

"It isn't," we said together.

"That's what I found out. I went to 6th period with the hugest headache I'd ever faced. I couldn't pay attention to anything, and if someone asked me a question, or even talked to me for that matter, I would just groan."

"Oh good," I said. "You feel my pain."

"Yeah, I do. Look, go to the office after school and say you originally enrolled for Creative Writing, but they screwed up and put you in the wrong class. And they'll switch you out."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

Mr. Block put six slides on our table, and then returned to the front of the classroom.

"Isn't Creative Writing just as bad?"

"No. Actually, it's helpful. If you've got writers' block, then you can take others' ideas and revise them enough to make them your own."

"Wouldn't that be cheating, in a way?"

"Nope."

The bell rang, and students rushed to get into their seats before being marked tardy.

"Alright. Good morning, class." Mr. Block said. "Today, I have placed six slides on your table. You are to analyze them into the six stages of mitosis. You have twenty minutes."

And with that, kids started grabbing their books and turning to the right pages. I closed my eyes, put my head on the edge of the table, and started rubbing my temples again.

"If your head hurts too much to do it, I can do it for you." Erik offered.

I sighed and sat up. "I'm fine." I lied. I grabbed a slide and slid it into place on the microscope stage. "Metaphase." I said.

He slid the slide out, placed it on the counter, and put another one in. "You know, my family's name was said at least once today during lunch, but your family's never was." He looked into the microscope, and then said, "Telephase."

"If you're curious, all you have to do is ask." I took the slide out and placed it a few inches from Metaphase, then slid the next one in. "Cytokinesis."

"Well, I _am_ quite curious, but since you know that, I don't think I'll need to ask." He took the slide out and placed it next to Telephase. Then slid the next in. "Interphase."

"Alright," I took Interphase out and put it at the front, and then slid the next one in. We were almost done, and five minutes hadn't even passed yet. "What do you want to know? Anaphase."

"I thought you knew that." He chuckled. "This last slide has to be Prophase; we've already done the rest."

"And only five minutes have passed." In a way, I was amazed. I raised my hand.

"Yes, Ms. Montoya?" Mr. Block came towards us.

"We finished." Erik answered.

I pointed to the slides as I said their name, "Interphase, Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telephase, and Cytokinesis."

"The only one that doesn't end in 'phase'," Erik pointed out. I rolled my eyes.

"All in order, just like we had to do."

"In just five minutes?" Mr. Block was more than amazed—he was astonished, a lot like how Mrs. Gregory was in 4th period. After all, it _was_ only my first day here.

"Yeah, we worked pretty fast," Erik explained.

Mr. Block was silent for a moment. _They had to have cheated somehow,_ he thought, _there's just no possible way they could've done it that fast, and without their books, as well._ Surprise, surprise, Mr. Block! We go fast.

"Alright, then," he said, still shocked. "I guess you can spend the rest out of the time talking or reading." And with that, he walked away, back to his desk.

"The girl on your left, at the very end," I started telling Erik about my family. "You know, the one that looked almost exactly like me, at lunch? That's Ashlie. She's telepathic."

"Telepathic?" it was his turn to be shocked. "Is it even possible to get a Power like that?"

"Obviously, since she has it. But it breaks down into two Powers: telepathy and telekinesis. Do you know what those are?"

"Telepathy is the way of talking through the mind, and telekinesis is the way to move inanimate objects with your mind. Did I get it right?"

"Precisely." He smiled, probably out of triumph. I continued. "The red-headed girl kind of behind her, that's Jamie. She's a different kind of Psychic."

"Different how? We thought all Psychics were the same."

"Well, you're wrong on that. Jamie doesn't see the future; she just hears and feels it, and is very specific. And if by 'we' you mean you and your Pixie-like sister, then you're both wrong."

"Pixie-like sister?"

"The little black-haired girl that was standing next to you…um, I think you called her Aliss."

Understanding washed over his face. "Oh. Her full name is Alisson."

"Then why don't you call her Ali?"

"She prefers Aliss." He paused for a second. "Indecision doesn't bother her, then?

"Not really; it just makes her Power a little more irritable." I thought of how I was going to explain Drew to him. "The only boy that was there, in the back, his name is Drew."

"What's his Power?"

"It's…complicated." He waited, so I just gave my best shot at it. "Drew's Power is small, but especially unique. We don't think there's another trick out there like his. Drew can sort of see relationships. He can feel them, and he can influence or break them. It's really weird."

"Yeah, I think that _is_ one of a kind."

"Yeah. And then there's Taylor, and she can make all our Powers combined look like parlor tricks." I stopped, wondering if he was ready to hear this, and checking if anyone else was in hearing range.

"Go on," he urged.

"I'm not entirely sure you should hear this part."

"I can handle it," he pressed.

I took a deep breath. "'Kay, but don't freak out." I lowered my voice till it was just barley over a whisper, and leaned in close. "All Taylor has to do is think. She thinks of whatever she wants and snaps her fingers. And whatever she was thinking of is right there, right in front of her. It just comes out of thin air—almost nowhere. And vice versa.

"And then she has this other Power: she can Sense what other MFs' Powers are. And that's exactly what we call it, Sense." I backed up a few inches to look at Erik's face. There was a mix of emotions: shock, confusion, maybe a little jealousy, flashing back and forth on his face, until he finally settled on being confused.

"How? How does she do _that_?" he muttered, mostly to himself.

"We don't know. She just does." Then he brought up another topic.

"MFs?"

"Mutated Freaks," I explained." Like us, right?"

"Wow." Erik was quiet for a moment. "Is it just the five of you?"

"Yeah, just us. What about you?"

"No. We have Carl and Emily. They stopped growing at unusual ages."

"How unusual?"

"He's 23 and she's 26."

"Whoa. I thought we all stopped growing in our teens."

"Apparently not." He brought up a new topic. "Ok, so now I know your family, but you don't know all of mine."

"I know enough."

"Really? Like what?"

"The big one, Ethan, is physically strong; the curly blond, um, Jayson, he can feel emotions and calm everyone down or excite them; Aliss is Psychic; and you're a mind reader."

"What about Rosalynn?"

"You won't mind?"

"I won't mind what?"

"Your sister, Rosalynn…Wow. Now _that_ is a dumb blond." Erik didn't look insulted. "God, did you hear her thoughts during lunch?"

He laughed. "I did, actually. I wasn't very surprised they were on your sister instead of the table. What did surprise me was the fact that she thought Ashlie was _human_."

"Your brother was considering it. 'Amazing. They aren't backing away from us, or worrying. They're completely calm. Could they be part of our kind? It's possible they're just overconfident…'" I quoted Jayson's thoughts perfectly.

"Was Jayson thinking that?"

"Yeah. He was right about one part, though."

"And which part would that be?"

"We _are_ overconfident. And most of the time it gets us in trouble." We laughed together now.

"And look at that," he said, "You've completely forgotten your headache."

"Well, not completely. I'm still fairly conscious of it."

"Maybe it's your subconscious that remembers it. But your head does feel better, doesn't it?"

"Definitely." I remembered what happened during lunch. I still wasn't sure what had happened; maybe he knew. "Why do you think it happens?" I asked, whispering.

"Why do I think what happens?" he whispered back, obviously confused. Wow. It was pretty easy to confuse him.

"The mind reading thing with you and me," I tried to explain, but he just got more confused. I tried a different way. "Why I can't read your mind and why you can't read mine."

Understanding washed over his face, and then the confusion returned. "I honestly don't know. It's weird, yet, at the same time, it's…nice. You know?"

"Yeah. It's like right where your thoughts should be, there's…nothing, which feels really uncomfortable, but I enjoy it."

"Yeah, and then the more I focus on trying to hear your thoughts, the less I hear from everyone else."

"I know."

"Alright, class. Your time is up." Mr. Block interrupted our conversation, and everyone's confusion. Except, everyone else was confused on which slide was which, not why they can't hear each others' thoughts.

From there, Mr. Block continued the lesson. I wasn't paying very much attention, being more focused on finding a logical explanation for the problem Erik and I both share.

When the bell rang, students jumped out of their seats and rushed out the door, thrilled that the school day was almost over. I was gathering my things together when Erik asked, "What class do you have next?"

I looked at my schedule. "Gym." I groaned.

"You know, gym isn't actually that bad. Coach K and B let us listen to our iPods and mp3s when we run the mile."

"And how is that good?" I highly doubted that my iPod would help me.

"Because Gym is my next class, and today," he smiled, "we run the mile." Erik said. And being in another class with Erik was all I needed. Plus, I love running.

"Alright, let's go." I mumbled, mostly to myself. "Lead the way." Erik looked shocked for a moment, and then smiled crookedly.

"'Kay, let's go."


	3. The Mile

We walked down the different halls till we were close to the front of the school. Erik pointed down the hall. "Alright, just go down this hallway, then turn right and go to the end of that hall. That's where the Girls' Locker Room is."

"And you know this…how?"

He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, unfolded it and handed it to me. "Ever heard of something called a map?"

"Ha ha." If our overconfidence didn't get us in trouble, then my sarcasm did. But I followed his directions. I soon found the door and entered.

Ashlie, Jamie, and Taylor were already there, waiting for me with another woman. By her looks and the whistle around her neck, I could tell she was the coach.

"Are you Rose Montoya?" she asked me.

"Yeah."

"I'm Coach Keizer, but everyone calls me Coach K. What size T-shirt do you wear?"

"She's the same as us," Ashlie answered for me.

"Alright." She pulled four bright orange T-shirts out of a box. They each had a white stripe across the middle of them, probably for writing names. On the top shirt, she wrote **T. MONTOYA **on the white stripe and handed it to Taylor. She did the same for Jamie, Ashlie and me, in the same manner. "You'll need a lock and basketball shorts."

"Will we be playing basketball?" Ashlie asked in a fake-worried voice.

"No," Coach K said, unsurprised. "You'll need shorts or else your grade gets docked for not participating. Now get dressed!" she walked out the door that led into the gym.

We chose our lockers and got dressed, and then hurried out to get our spots.

"You girls came on a good day," Coach K told us.

"And why is that?" Jamie asked, but I smiled. I already knew exactly what today was.

"Let's hope you have your iPods. Today, we run the mile."

Ashlie groaned. If she hated anything more than her ex-boyfriends, and she has had a _lot_ of those, it was the mile.

Taylor smiled just a little. She knew my love of running.

"Have fun, Rose," Jamie said.

"Oh," I replied, "I will." I pulled my iPod out of my pocket just to prove my point.

"Well, looks like one of you is prepared," Coach K said approvingly. She led us over to the gym floor. "Now, when you're down getting dressed, you'll come and sit here, in alphabetical order, meaning Ashlie, Jamie, Rose, and then Taylor. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," we said in unison, and then sat down. And, to our left, were the two Masen girls. They were talking about how we were 'so rude for sitting at their table'. I laughed inside my head. They didn't know anything yet.

_Drew_, Ashlie sent out. _Are you ok?_ He shook his head and mouthed, "No." He was sitting right next to the three Masen boys, two of which whispering like the two girls over the stupid table. But Erik just kept looking at different things.

"Aww," Taylor sighed. She ran her finger from the bottom of her eye down to her chin. It was our way of showing sympathy to each other. Fake crying.

_Purrrrrrrrrrrr! _The whistles blew.

"Alright, everyone!" Coach K yelled over all the talking. "Listen up!" the room slowly quieted.

"Alright, everyone out." The other coach, probably Coach B, said in a loud, deep voice. Everyone stood up and walked out the doors that I assumed would lead us outside.

On the way, students pulled a mix of iPods and MP3's of different shapes and colors out of their pockets, including me. Some put both earphones in, others just one. I put both in, but kept it off. Once we were outside, I tried to get a good spot in the middle and up front, which proved to be hard, since everyone wanted the middle. I watched as Ashlie tried to take a spot in the back. I eventually took a spot on the very end, next to a fence that divided the school property from someone else's, with a set of bleachers ahead a few meters.

"Alright," God, what was with this school? Everyone saying 'alright' all the time? It was driving me crazy—as if I needed any more of that! "Ready…set…GO!"

And we took off.

I turned my iPod on and Muse's _Supermassive Black Hole_ pounded in my ears. Instead of moving towards the middle, I ran where I was. I was only in the top 15 people, so I used the bleacher to my advantage. I jumped onto the second row of seats and ran along the plank, running past about five people. I used the very end as a springboard, jumping ahead of four. It didn't take long to run past the remaining six, and pretty soon, I was already on my second—and last—lap.

Running must've been part of my DNA formula. Like, a wolf or something. I just absolutely loved running.

I didn't know how, but suddenly, Erik was running alongside me, pulling out my right earphone so he could talk to me.

"So," he asked, "How's your first day?"

"Great," I replied. "Except for the 5th period mishap and lunch. Other than that, great. So are you on your second lap?" I slowed to a jog; I was so ahead no one was going to catch up to me.

"No, you are," he said it like he couldn't believe I was almost done with the mile. It's only been about five minutes. What was the big deal?

"What? Hasn't anyone finished the mile less than six minutes?"

"Never." He said. Then, shockingly, he laughed. "I swear, if you _don't_ sign up for Track then people are going to be shocked."

"You know what kind of ticks me off?"

"The fact that no one can outrun you?"

"The fact that everyone one keeps saying 'alright'. Mr. Block, Mrs. Lyons, both coaches. It's irritating!"

"You'll get used to it."

"I don't think I will."

"You should still sign up for T&F."

I shook my head and took up running again. I ran up the hill and stopped.

"Amazing," Coach B said as he looked at the stopwatch.

"Unbelievable," Coach K said. "No one had ever finished the mile in less than five minutes."

Coach B smiled. "I think we have our Track captain."

Coach K nodded. "Well, Rose. We'll see you tomorrow."

It sounded like I was free to go, so I did.


	4. Switching Classes

The locker room was empty, since everyone else was out running still. It made me uncomfortable. I quickly got dressed, gathered my things, and hurried out the door.

I remembered what Erik told me in biology, how if I go to the office and tell them they put me in the wrong class they would switch me out. It took a while to find the office, and I was caught in the halls three times by different teachers. I asked each of them where the office was, and they pointed me in different directions.

Finally, I found the office and walked in silently.

"Excuse me," I said. The secretary, Mrs. Clark, looked up, startled. Then she relaxed and smiled at me.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm Rose Montoya," I said, hoping that would strike a chord. And it did.

"Oh! How may I help you, Ms. Montoya?"

"I was just wondering why I was put into Enrichment Reading."

God, it was so easy to confuse people here.

"Didn't you sign up for it?" _I swear she signed up for it,_ I heard her think.

"No, I signed up for Creative Writing."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

"I'll go check that." She walked into a back room.

I called out to Ashlie when she was gone.

_Ashlie, I need your help._

_With what?_ I heard from her thoughts.

_Ashlie, remember when we were enrolling here and I signed up for Enrichment Reading and you said it was a stupid idea?_

_Yeah, why?_

_Ashlie, I need you to tell Taylor to switch my checkmark from Enrichment Reading to Creative Writing. Please._

There was silence after that. I could almost hear Mrs. Clark finding my paper.

_Ashlie, hurry._

_Done._ I heard Taylor's 'voice' confirming that I was safe.

Mrs. Clark came back into the room, holding a yellow-orange piece of paper.

"I guess you're right, Ms. Montoya. I'm sorry."

"It's ok."

"Alright, so tomorrow, go to room 2-C for 5th period. Ok?"

"Ok. Thank you."

And as I walked out the door, the bell rang.


	5. The Montoya Home

I was walking to my car when Erik caught up with me again.

"Wow." He said, absolutely amazed. "You actually got dismissed from Gym early. That's never happened before either."

"It's really easy to amaze you. And confuse you, too."

"Very funny."

Then something hit me.

"Um, Erik?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember what happened at lunch today?"

"Yes."

"So…would you say…that…just maybe…our families aren't very…fond of each other…?"

"Rose, what are you getting at?"

"What do you think would happen if we got caught together?"

He thought about that for a moment.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then." And with that, he turned and walked towards his car, all the way across the lot.

I watched him for a moment, and then turned back towards my car.

The rest of my family was already there, waiting for me. The only reason they were waiting for me was because I had the key. If it were, say, Ashlie's turn to drive, then they would've been gone by now, leaving me to hitch-hike or walk.

"Hey," I said as I unlocked the doors and climbed into the driver seat. Ashlie sat in the passenger seat, Taylor in the middle in the back, Drew on her left, Jamie on her right.

"So, what's his name?" Ashlie asked in her cheerful voice, obviously trying to get information.

"Um, Drew?" I pretended to play dumb. But it didn't work very well. We know when one of us is acting or they honestly don't know what we're talking about. I started the engine and drove out of the lot.

"Yeah?" Drew asked.

"No, not Drew," Ashlie was starting to get irritated, which was good on my part. "The guy you were just with. Who is he?"

"Rose, don't try to hide it. I'll know," Jamie threatened.

I sighed. "His name is Erik."

"Erik…" Ashlie pressed.

"Yeah, it seems you to have quite a connection." Drew said.

"They have a _what_!" Jamie demanded.

"Some sort of connection," he answered, and then spoke to all of us, especially me. "When you two were together just now, I saw this silver cord going through you. The strange thing is, it didn't go all the way through you…it just stopped…like it was binding you two together…weird, right?"

"Way," Ashlie agreed.

"Totally," Jamie added.

"Definitely," Taylor said.

"Ok, then," I wondered what a silver cord looked like. Of course I'd seen one before, but I've never seen one going through two people. We drove down different roads, taking turns left and right, till we finally got to our house.

It was just the five of us; we each got our own bedrooms, and cars. My room was in the basement, with Ashlie's right next me. Drew and Jamie were across the hall from each other. Taylor, for some reason, wanted the attic.

We had an early dinner, as usual, and then talked about our day. We finished talking about anything to keep Ashlie's mouth shut, so then we got an hour's worth of Ashlie lecturing us on how gym was so unfair and how almost every boy on campus was crushing on one of us Montoya girls and all this other stuff we already knew and didn't care much about. Finally, she said something useful.

"Wow. It's been a long day. I'm going to bed."

"'Kay," the rest of us said, almost at the same time.

"'Night, guys."

"'Night." Ashlie walked down the stairs, gracing us with peace and quiet.

"Hey," Jamie said, once Ashlie was gone. "Did anyone check the mail today?"

"I'll grab it," I was closest to the door anyway. So, maybe 9 o'clock at night is a strange hour to check the mail. We didn't care; we're already pretty strange.

In the mail, we had: the water bill, the electricity bill, Ashlie's credit card debt (it was time to talk to her about that…_again_!), and a small piece of paper folded in half, addressed to me in very nice handwriting. I opened it only to find the same handwriting on a piece of light lavender, floral stationary.

**_Meet me up the river, Midnight._**

I wondered who would send something like this to me. I didn't even know where the river was! How was I going to find it if I didn't know where it was? Maybe if I GoogleMapped it, I'd be able to find it. Or I could follow the sound of the river coming somewhere from my backyard. I stuffed the piece of paper into my pocket and walked back in before anyone noticed I'd been out here a little too long.

"Anything interesting?" Jamie asked as I walked in.

"Yes, actually," but I wasn't about to tell them about the strange letter. I told them about Ashlie's credit card. "Ashlie's last 'Shop-Till-You-Die-Shopping-Spree' hit a new record."

"How much?" Drew asked, "Or do I _really_ want to know?" Drew was the first one of us to get changed, so he kind of took the role of 'leader' or whatever you want to call it.

"Drew, you do _not_ want to hear it," Jamie said when I showed her the open envelope.

"Oh, my God," Taylor muttered. She was leaning on the table, her elbow supporting most of her weight, her hand on her forehead supporting her head.

"It _can't_ be _that_ bad," Drew countered.

"Oh yes it can!" Jamie said back, eyes still on the paper.

"She spent $629 dollars." I got it out of the way.

Drew and Taylor were silent, staring at me as if I'd just gone crazy.

"Oh, my God," they said at the exact time.

"Time to take her Visa away," Jamie mumbled. And all together, we said, "Again."

"I'm going to bed," Drew said, coming out of shock. And without another word, he walked up the stairs.

"Yeah, me too," Taylor stretched. "'Night."

"Night, Tay," Jamie and I said. She walked upstairs.

I put the rest of the mail down on the counter, except my secret note, still hiding in my pocket.

"Rose," Jamie said. She used the voice that usually meant I was in trouble.

"Yes?" I asked, hesitant.

"Rose, is there something you want to tell me?" she was still using that voice.

"No. Why?" But I had a very good feeling on what she was going to say.

She sighed. "Look, Rose. I know Erik. I know he's a Masen. And I know you're probably going out to meet him tonight."

"What?" I asked, still playing dumb.

"I saw him put the note in our mailbox, Rose, which is why I asked if anyone had checked the mail. And while you were checking the mail, I flashed." Flashed is what we call it when Jamie hears and feels the future. "I heard two voices talking near a river. One of them was yours, and the other was the one of the boy who said 'It's just a table' at lunch. A.K.A. Erik Masen."

"How'd you know who he is?"

"He's in my 4th, English. I sit in front of him."

I sighed in defeat, panic written clearly on my face. "Please don't tell Drew. I know we don't like the Masens, but—"

"Rose, calm down," Jamie said. Her cheerful voice was back, along with a small smile. "I won't tell. When Drew was explaining the silver cord thing, I remembered back when we were in New Salem."

"Oh yeah," I said, remembering. "Drew said he saw the same thing with Cassie and Adam, and they ended up together."

"Exactly. And if Drew saw that with you and Erik Masen, then we can't fight it." She smiled again.

"Oh thank you thank you thank you!" I jumped up and hugged her tight.

Jamie laughed. "Alright! Now go get some sleep so you can wake up in the middle of the night." She walked up the stairs. I couldn't move, knowing that the one person we relay on the almost as much as me for planning escapes and things like that was going to keep mine and Erik's secret. But when I heard a door close I sprinted down the stairs, into my bedroom. I closed the door, quickly got my pajamas on, set my alarm for 11:40pm, and then jumped into bed with the hugest smile on my face.


	6. Kinda Romeo and Juliet

At 11:45pm, I got up and changed into my favorite sundress. I'm not entirely sure _why_ I put on a sundress in the middle of the night, but I did. It was pale yellow, and just two or three inches above my knees. The sleeves were ruffles, and down the front, to about my waist were buttons. But what made it my favorite was there was this color of red on it, like a mix of pink and red, and it was like painted on the dress. Not like in the Van Gogh kind of way, more like splattered. It was pretty cool, and Ashlie, our fashion consultant, said the yellow brought out my eyes and my hair brought out the paint splatters. I put on a pair of white flats and quietly, but quickly, opened my door and speed walked up the stairs.

When I got close to the top, I saw a light flicker on. I froze where I was and squatted down. I didn't even breathe. I wondered who would be up in the middle of the night…besides me.

"Rose," Jamie whisper-shouted, looking for me. "Rose."

I breathed and stood up straight. "What, Jamie?" I whispered back.

"I wanted to braid your hair, you know, make it look cute." She offered. I thought about it briefly.

"Okay, but hurry. I still don't know where the river is."

"I'm way ahead of you," she took out a folded piece of paper and handed it to me while I sat down on a kitchen chair. I took it and she pulled my hair out of my face and started brushing it. I unfolded the paper and smiled.

"You GoogleMapped it?" I asked as she started pulling my hair into a long French braid.

"I GoogleMapped the entire area while we were planning our move," she said it with satisfaction in her voice.

"I love you, Jamie." I felt the final tug as she wrapped a rubber band around my hair. I sighed. Even with my hair up, it still went down to my waist.

"You look amazing," Jamie said. She looked me over and smiled gently.

"Thanks." I looked at the map again. "You _are_ amazing." And then, as if to prove my point more, she pulled out a mini-flashlight and handed it to me.

"Now get outta here!" she said, a huge smile on her face. "Go meet your Romeo, Juliet!" We laughed at her little joke, and I got it.

I smiled at her one more time before grabbing my jean jacket and walked out the back door.


	7. The Middle of Nowhere

It took a little while to find the river, but it wasn't five minutes after midnight that I found it. The only problem was that I didn't know whether to go left or right. The note didn't say exactly where to meet him.

So what was I going to do?

Now, a normal person might go, 'Eeny-Meany-Miney-Moe' to choose which way, but I wasn't normal. I tried to remember what the note had said. I knew it was, 'Meet me _ the river, Midnight' but what was the blank? Was it up? Or was it down? I thought really hard…and finally remembered it. 'Meet me up the river, Midnight'.

I followed the river up, singing Taylor Swift songs. My favorites were "Tim McGraw" and "Love Story". "Tim McGraw" because…well, I don't know why, really. It's just a really good song. I liked "Love Story" because it fit what Erik and I were doing. Well, mostly. There were some parts that didn't fit us. "Today Was a Fairytale" fit us the very best; I sung that song a lot while walking.

I'd been walking for a while. At probably 12:15am, the river started to thin and turned into a creek. It got lost somewhere, and the path I was following trailed into a forest. I debated going into it, to keep following it, or to stay where I was. I leaned forward into it, and said, "Erik? Erik, are you in there?"

"Rose?" I heard a familiar voice call out. Erik emerged from the trees, wearing black jeans and a dark grey T-shirt. He looked me over, and then smiled. "There you are. I was worried you weren't going to show up."

"And why wouldn't I show up?" I asked, a playful smile on my face.

He shrugged. "Probably because you didn't know who gave you the note. And it said midnight…" he trailed off.

I rolled my eyes. "Jamie said she heard two people talking: mine and the one from the boy at lunch who said 'it's just a table', so I knew it was you."

"Damn it," he said sarcastically. "I got busted." I laughed.

"So, why exactly was I supposed to meet you out here? And how did you know where to put the note?"

"Ethan and Aliss are kind of failing math, so they stayed after school for tutoring, and since it was my car we drove, all five of us were stuck. So I gave Rosalynn and Jayson my keys and followed you home. I waited until it was late enough that none of you would notice me if I stuck a note in your mailbox, and ran off." Erik looked a little ashamed…like he knew what he did was wrong, but I honestly didn't mind. "And I thought you liked me, so I just wanted to make sure…which is why I wanted you out here."

"But why midnight?" I knew he understood the real meaning behind my question.

"Ok, so maybe if I gave the note to any other girl she probably would've called the police," Erik said, exaggerating. "But I know you, and you would've come to investigate, not call the cops…wait…does your family know you're here?" he asked, carefully.

I sighed. "If they did, do you think you'd be alive right now?" Yeah, my sarcasm _definitely_ gets us into trouble.

Erik thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, probably not." Then he smiled. "So, would you like to know why I asked you to come out here?"

"Yes, I would."

Erik smiled the same crooked smile he did in Biology—nearly melting my heart—took my hand, and said, "Come with me."

And he led me deep into the forest, just going further and further until he stopped.

"Um, where are we?" I asked, completely lost _and_ confused.

"This is where I like to go to think about things for a while." Erik answered.

"The middle of nowhere?"

"No…well, actually…um…kind of, it's…hard to explain…" he paused. "You know what, why don't I just light it up."

"Light what up?" But Erik didn't answer. Instead he pulled a lighter out of his pocket. It ignited, and he lifted it, causing something to light. That small light went around a circle, lighting little things. For a brief moment, I wondered what it was, but when I looked at where we were, my heart nearly stopped.


End file.
